myriad
Americannoun
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a very great or indefinitely great number of persons or things.
-
ten thousand.
adjective
noun
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(also used in plural) a large indefinite number
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archaic ten thousand
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of myriad
First recorded in 1545–55; from Greek mȳriad-, stem of mȳriás “ten thousand,” from mȳríos “countless”
Explanation
A myriad is a lot of something. If you’re talking about Ancient Greece, a myriad is ten thousand, but today you can use the word in myriad other ways. Myriad comes from the Greek myrioi, the word for ten thousand, or less specifically, a countless amount. Myriad can be a noun, like a myriad of choices, or an adjective, like when you study myriad subjects in college. If you lift a rock you might find a myriad of bugs. Sticklers often look down their noses at using myriad as a noun, but that usage came first.
Vocabulary lists containing myriad
Lord of the Flies
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Grade 10, List 2
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The Old Man and the Sea
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When he was chief economist of HSBC’s Canada unit, David Watt said he heard myriad anecdotes from clients about logjams at Canada’s ports.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
While O’Neill never could have expected to be here with his Cal-bred, Baffert will start two of the myriad expensive colts his clients buy each year.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
Eastern DR Congo has been dogged by conflict for years with myriad armed groups operating in the area.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
Since there are myriad ways of reducing risk besides a 60/40 portfolio, it’s impossible to respond to all of them.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026
In a few seconds the ground was covered with water and over it, to a height of inches, rose a haze formed of a myriad minute splashes.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
